Jeremy Corbyn pledges 50% of Labour MPs will be women

Labour leadership contender Jeremy Corbyn today pledged to ensure that if elected, half of his shadow cabinet and half of his party’s MPs will be women.

The Left-winger made the promise as he released his policy agenda for women, claiming he would ditch cuts to services they use.

He also pledged universal free childcare and the scrapping of employment tribunal fees.

Committing to a 50 per cent female frontbench team, and to work towards a situation where half of Labour MPs are women, he said: “The time for timid measures is over.

“Women deserve fair pay, fair chances and unflinching support in the face of violence and abuse. Today’s proposals would go a long way towards building a society where women and men exist as equals and flourish.”

His Working with Women paper argues firms should also have to publish mandatory equal pay audits.

The Islington North MP demanded the abolition of fees, introduced by the government, held responsible for a dramatic fall in the number of employment tribunal cases.